The process of male circumcision in the infant is accomplished using several different surgical techniques. Although this operation is very common and is often performed within the first 24 hours of life, there is often no anesthetic used during the procedure. Recent evidence suggests that the experience is in fact painful for the infant and the operation would be better performed using anesthesia.
The present methods of anesthesia, not including general anesthesia, include the application of a local anesthetic such as LIDOCAINE.RTM. via injection into the penis or via the application of a gel which is then wrapped with a sheet-like gauze material to hold the gel in place prior to the start of the procedure. These two common methods are not without flaws. The injection of anesthetic can cause complications such as pain, bleeding, hematoma and cardiac arrest if accidentally injected into the vascular tree. The application of anesthesia locally with a wrap is less dangerous but is more cumbersome to carry out. This method is time consuming and requires two procedures. This makes the method more difficult to perform and less cost effective. If the anesthetic is absorbed by the sheet-like material used to wrap around the penis to hold it in place, it will also take longer for the penis to become adequately anesthetized. This will therefore decrease the use of the anesthetic in performing circumcisions.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method and device for providing adequate anesthesia for the operation of infant male circumcision which does not require injection or cumbersome, time consuming and special skill requiring use.